They were all gathered around the place where Emily believed the cube was buried. Each of them had a small garden spade in their hands which they brought with them. There was a level of uncertainty on their faces.
'Where do you think we should start Em?' Patrick asked scanning the fields.
'I think this is about right where we are standing. As I've said earlier, there might be nothing.'
'Ah well, here goes nothing then,' Patrick said. He pulled on an average size rock, but it would not move, 'give us a hand here.' Delmar, Bernard and Patrick pushed the rock and soon it started rolling down a small slope where it stopped in a ditch a few meters away.
Soon most of the rocks have been rolled out of the way. There had been a few close encounters with some scorpions and dangerous-looking spiders, but at least the area had been cleared of rocks.
'How deep did you say the grave was?' Bernard asked, wiping sweat from his brow with his forearm.
'I don't know. About this deep,' Emily said lifting her hand in the air just over a meter in height.
'God, that's deep. I don't know how hard this ground is,' Delmar said. 'I hope we have enough water here for the day.'
'Yeah, we're gonna sweat like motherfuckers, that's for sure,' Patrick said.
They had a battle removing a tough layer of field grass. It would have been much easier if they had the right tools with them, but then again, who would want to carry garden forks and spades around for the day? At least the ground was softer than they expected once they got through the grass layer, but it would still take a long time to reach the required depth with the small garden spades.
'We should have brought something bigger than these little things,' Bernard said. 'My hands are full of blisters already and we've barely scraped the surface.'
'Yeah well, it's better than nothing,' Andrew said. 'It could have been worse if we had to use our hands.'
'True,' Bernard said.
The sun was sitting at a two-o'clock position casting heavy rays of heat onto the landscape. There was a large hole in the ground almost a meter deep by over two meters wide, but they have not yet encountered anything hollow underneath that might have insinuated a wooden box, or a grave according to Emily's dreams.
'Maybe this was not the exact position,' Bernard said. His face and back were wet from perspiration. All of them except for Emily had removed as many clothes as possible hoping the slight breeze might cool them off.
'This is heavy work,' Andrew said. 'I think it's hard to pinpoint exactly where the spot was with such a large area to cover. One could easily miss such a small thing in a vast land of nothingness. It's like looking for a treasure chest in the desert.' He stretched out and arched his back trying to release himself from the numb pain.
Emily regarded them feeling guilty. She was looking forward to finding something under the ground, but how ridiculous was that? Just because she had consecutive dreams about this place did not make it the perfect ground for treasure hunting. At least it was not a total waste. She had most of the day to admire Delmar's athletic body as they made turns to dig the hole.
'Maybe we should start the fire and rest a while,' Patrick said. 'I'm getting hungry.'
'Me too,' Delmar said. He threw the small garden spade on the new heap of fresh sand and got out of the hole.
They all retired around the crackling fire, each staring into the flames, exhausted and lost in their own thoughts. The sun was leaning further west.
Bernard felt a little sting on his shoulders and noticed that his skin was red. 'Fuck, I think I've got screwed by the sun.'
'Same here,' Patrick said regarding his body. 'Something we didn't think about, a little sunblock would have gone a long way.'
'If it wasn't for those roots, the hole would have been much deeper,' Andrew said.
'Do you guys think we should continue with the digging or what?' Delmar asked.
'Well, it's getting late already and we still need to braai,' Andrew said. 'The road back home is also a long one so I think we can just as well finish up here and come back another day.'
'Yeah man,' Bernard said. 'I think I need to stay away from the sun for the next three years or so.'
Emily looked at Bernard's shoulders, arms, back and face. She knew his body was going to hurt for quite some time to come. She noticed the concerned expression on his face as he regarded his own body in disbelief. She tried to contain herself by putting her hands over her mouth, but she failed. She burst out laughing. 'I'm sorry guys. This was a ridiculous idea.'
'You reckon hey,' Bernard said. 'At least I worked my muscles today.' He pretended to flex his red, skinny arms.
This time they all joined Emily who was laughing.
Soon the smell of meat filled the air. Each one held a piece of meat in the fire with skewers. There were hissing sounds as oil and fat dripped on the glowing coals. Andrew took his meat from the fire and leaned against a tree looking out at the ocean. He appreciated the cool breeze on his naked body after the day's hard work of treasure hunting. He held the skewer in front of his mouth and blew on his meat to speed up the cooling process. His body was sticky. Usually, he would have wanted nothing more than a nice cool shower but not today. He appreciated this moment with his friends and family. He loved the idea that there was no sight or sound of a car in the area, not to mention the fumes. All he could hear was the wind whistling through the grass and waves clashing against some rocks far below. A sound one can never find in a city.
Andrew was about to take a bite from his meat when a voice echoed through his head.
Andrew.
Somehow it did not bother him as it did in the beginning. In fact, Andrew welcomed it this time around. He had become accustomed to the voice somehow. He was able to hear the conversation around the fire as well as read their faces and emotions while he heard his name in his own head. The headaches were something of the past.
Don't give up my son. You are too close to stopping now. Time is ticking away.
Andrew had a grin when he heard the voice again. He somehow missed it. He knew then that there was something around here after all. Maybe the spot they chose was not a total waste of time. He knew then that the voice, as well as Emily's dreams, could not all have been a coincidence. He felt excitement and fear at the same time. He could not figure out yet what it all had to do with him or his family. He was excited to find the box but scared at the same time of what would be inside. Andrew found himself nodding. He waited for the voice to return but it never did.
They had consumed most of the food and liquids. They had cleaned up and returned the rest of their things to the backpacks. Before they headed home, Andrew threw sand on the smothering coals. The sun was sinking low in the sky and already the shadows grew longer towards the east. On their way home, Andrew paused for a moment and glanced back at the ocean one last time. He noticed something out of the ordinary, something out of place in the modern day and age. There was a ship, more like a war galley not too far from the shore. Andrew knew it had not been there before. It reminded him of a Viking warship he had seen in books. It had a large keel with a high hull. On its stem and stern, two large dragon heads had been carved out. It had one high mast in the form of a cross with a large white sail bearing the sign of a dragon. The ship was empty from what Andrew could see. Almost like a ghost ship.
'Guys, check it out,' Andrew said pointing towards the ship.
'Oh my God, how cool is that?' Emily said astonished.
'Wow, is that thing real?' Delmar asked.
'Fuuck me,' Bernard said.
The ship started sailing towards the gleaming sun cutting over the brilliant glittering ocean. It seemed like a dream that no one would ever believe. In a matter of seconds, the ship was gone. It vanished from the ocean surface.
'What the hell was that all about?' Patrick frowned.
'Did we just imagine that whole thing?' Delmar asked. 'I mean, we all saw the same thing right?' His expression was almost dreamy and childlike.
'I saw it for sure. It was a Viking ship right there in the ocean,' Bernard said pointing towards the location where the ship had been before it faded away.
Andrew smiled. He knew something was up here on the hill. Why would that voice tell him that he was close? Why would it have said that time was running out? Andrew did not care what it had to do with him anymore. Just the thought of being associated with the Vikings was exhilarating. He knew it would be fruitless debating on what they had seen. It could not be explained any more than the voice in his head could be explained.